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Strategies
[ UNDER CONSTRUCTION ] EDITOR'S NOTE (2019/01/10) : The Community's help is needed for this section of the Wiki. I've played some, and had very good success with Marienburgers and Skaven. But I haven't played much the Close Combat Factions (melee), and don't know how these should be played... Please, post whatever strategy you've found out works well most of the time, either in the Comments or by editing this page. Thanks! This page contains general strategies, tips, and tricks. For faction specific strategies, please see the respective faction page. Unit Selection * Be picky when hiring Henchmen—look for high Wounds first (avoid any with only 3 W), and then other useful stats. Think ahead. Ex. : A Warrior with less than 30 Str will never be able to learn Fearsome, because the 45 Str requirement will never be met (max +15 with Str Increase) ; A Marksman with less than 30 Ini needs 3 levels in Initiative Increase to access the Quick Reactions skills tree (40 Ini requirement), while 35 + 1 level will get you there much faster. * Freelancer—avoid this Hired Sword. He has exactly the same skill-tree access as the Ogre, but with strictly worse stats. Save you gold and Fate for the Ogre if you want a tank. Or else the Pit Fighter if you need Speed Skills. * Middenheimer Marksman—avoid this unit. They are terrible ranged units. Only the Middenheimer captain is effective in ranged combat. For additional ranged units, purchase halflings or elf rangers (forthcoming). Leveling * Melee and hybrid units should prioritize increases in "Weapon Skill" when starting out. Skaven with high starting "Weapon Skill" are a notable exception. In terms of real money spent healing deaths and injuries, it is considerably more cost effective to obtain "Hidden in the Shadows" as quickly as possible. * Rating Management—the players quintessential goal while leveling should be to maximize lethality and survivability while avoiding bottlenecks. One of the best ways to accomplish this goal is by actively keeping the warband's rating as low as possible. Normally, this does not mean sitting on unused skill points. That is only an effective choice in a small set of specific circumstance described here. Typically, the player is better served by placing those points in speed skills (high defense units) or magic (low defense units) as they offer hefty boons at a paultry increase in rating. * [[Tome of Magic|'Spellbooks']]—you can avoid spending skill points learning new spells by equipping your unit with its respective spellbook. Fore example, while Necromancers and Vampires require a "Tome of Necromancy," Warlocks, Reiklander Captains, Marienburg Captains, and Middenheimer Captains require the "Tome of Magic." Purchasing the wrong book will waste both gold and time so be careful. * Increase your Weapon Skill—even on shooters, because that's one of your best protection against powerful melee combat units (like Ogres). Hit chances are basically 50 +/- WS spread. * Use proven Archetypes—the skills system allows for thousands of combinations. But there are proven Archetypes in the game, and you'd be better training your Heroes into one of them, instead of picking some cool skills here and there. The order skills are learned is important, and sticking to a known archetype will prevent you from picking skills that are useless in the long run (classic case is Zealot first taking Crossbow Training instead of Blackpowder Training, because of the Handgun's price). Playstyle * [[Hiding|'Hiding']]—stealth is an essential element of the game and should be used often to avoid being shot or charged. Since the AI makes little use of hiding, new players who model their playstyle on the AI can experience heavy losses over many games before figuring out its correct use for themselves. A unit can be made to hide by either walking into cover (as opposed to running) or deferring a turn while standing in cover. * Turn Skipping—encompases two of the most usefule strategies in the game. It enables Turn Grouping (Alpha Strike) and Stealth Movement. When standing in cover, pressing the skip button to delay the turn automatically hides the unit. Doing this deliberately during matches can make it far more difficult for an opponent to precisely track (or even remember) the movement of any particular model. This is especially helpful when using multiple hidden units to intersect the path of a hidden vampire as the vampire can be made impossible to locate. * [[Flight of Zimmerman|'Flight of Zimmerman']]' (Warlocks, some Captains)'—use that spell to fly up to 12 squares away, in addition to your normal move and attacks. That way, you can fly for 12 + run/charge for 8 squares (with Move 4) and cover a lot of ground. It's the single most useful spell in all the game (add a Lantern to this unit to reveal far away snipers). * Factions—learning to exploit the weaknesses of each faction is critical. For example, Marienburgers don't wear armour, Skaven have very low leadership and are more susceptible to Fear and All Alone tests, etc. Additionally, most factions strongly favor specific attack patterns. Effectively countering these strategies is essential to victory. * Host the Missions—if the objective is Defend or Capture the middle of the map, the player who hosted will always be the one in the middle (defending that position). If your team is particularly good at range, you may prefer that, rather than charging that zone (a strategy more appropriate for melee). Weapons and Items * Defence Modifier—the most effective weapons in the game have negative defense modifiers (e.g. "Enemy Defence: -25" or "Enemy Max Defense: 25" depending on weapon type). * Hammers vs Axes—with their high critical hit but small defense modifier, axes are appropriate for characters with comparatively many attacks and are superior to hammers against soft bodied targets. Hence, they are typically the better choice for early-to-mid game. Though it can be helpful to have one unit with a hammer. As the player progresses, this trend will gradually reverse however. Against Gromril armor wearing enemies with max "Weapon Skill," "Resilient," and "Step Aside," axes can yield little, if any, damage. Against such foes, The Comet Maul is the weapon of choice. * Non-weapon/non-armour Equipment—items are often neglected in favor of weapons and armor. But a Lantern is mandatory to reveal hidden units, Rope and Hook are quasi-essential in certain maps, and Blunderbuss is an overpowered tool that is underestimated by most.